Xisco Munoz has plenty of selection decisions to make ahead of Saturday’s visit of Ipswich Town to Hillsborough, with Wednesday still searching for our first Championship win of the season.
A point from a goalless draw at Leeds immediately before the two-week international break lifted us off the foot of the table on goal difference and now Munoz is eyeing a much-needed victory in his sixth league game, with the clash against the Tractor Boys the first of two home matches in four days and the second being against basement club Middlesbrough at S6 on Tuesday evening.
The Owls boss said: “The most important thing is we focus on these next games, with two chances at home in front of our fans. We know Ipswich are a dangerous team who play like a team.
“It’s true we put in a very good performance against Leeds but we need to forget about that and put in the full power for Ipswich. We need to continue with the clean sheets and keep showing what we showed against Leeds. We were aggressive with and without the ball.”
Munoz confirmed midfielder Momo Diaby continues to be ruled out with the injury sustained against Preston last month and is also waiting for the return of Juan Delgado, Devis Vasquez and Di’Shon Bernard from international duty to see if they can be considered for the Ipswich challenge.
Keeper Vasquez was an unused sub in Colombia’s two World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela and Chile – clubmate Delgado getting some second-half action for Chile in both of their qualifiers with Uruguay and Colombia. Bernard was in the Jamaica squad for two CONCACAF Nations League games, sitting on the bench in a 1-0 win over Honduras and coming on as a sub in a 2-2 draw with Haiti.
The manager added at today’s press conference: “They have not arrived back yet but it’s normal because they have been in other parts of the world. When they do arrive they have a special programme tailored for them. After that we’ll see.”
Munoz also has to decide whether to put deadline day loan signings, John Buckley and Jeff Hendrick, straight into the Wednesday midfield for the Ipswich game, while he has also confirmed that Mallik Wilks is not yet ready for first team action after completing 65 minutes for the under-21s against Charlton last week.
Second-placed Ipswich wait on fitness updates on ex-Owl George Hirst and Wes Burns and are also likely to include former Wednesday man Massimo Luongo in their midfield as they look to build on a promising start to the season.